Just browsing over ebay and came upon this STS for sale...claims to have a "HYDROGEN FUEL ECONOMY PACK UPGRADE" whatever that is,looks to me to be a homemade contraption that would not look out of place in a Back to the future movie.Can anyone figure it out and shed some light as it has me intrigued to say the least and the seller wont answer any questions about this unknown upgrade...:cookoo:

It's a hydrogen generator, unless I'm completely mistaken. You put water in it, and through electrolysis (in this case by running lines from the battery), create hydrogen. The hydrogen is then forced into the air intake and SUPPOSEDLY can have a car get better gas mileage.

There is a lot of debate over whether or not these actually work, however.

stsuk

11-30-10, 08:25 PM

Looks like a fire waiting to happen...:bomb:

jayoldschool

11-30-10, 09:08 PM

I would only be interested if it has a Tornado, fuel line magnets, and a crankcase full of Slick 50 ;)

EChas3

11-30-10, 11:08 PM

If it has any effect at all, the alternator would draw even more load to generate the electricity consumed. Otherwise, it would be sold as a perpetual motion machine.

Ranger

11-30-10, 11:35 PM

WOW! A Cadillac that runs on water. Our prayers have been answered. :woohoo:

jimsbox

12-01-10, 12:29 AM

Check these out for some light reading...

http://www.hybridwaterpower.com/
http://www.watertogas.com/

Hardly an upgrade package.

dkozloski

12-01-10, 01:55 AM

If you're injecting enough hydrogen to make a difference, you're lowering the octane rating enough to make severe engine damage a real risk. The knock detector will be pulling timing and your milage wil be in the toilet as well. This breed of gadget is more suited for a Model T Ford.

johnny kannapo

12-01-10, 03:04 AM

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31OmHIu3akL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

For $20.00 you can have a solar powered windmill

77CDV

12-01-10, 03:50 AM

Does it come with personalized plates that say HNDNBRG?

stsuk

12-13-10, 10:06 AM

Does it come with personalized plates that say HNDNBRG?

Ha ha...that would make a great pic.

Cadillacboy

12-13-10, 12:54 PM

How about nuclear power lol

Aron9000

12-14-10, 06:05 AM

All jokes about his hydrogen gimmick aside . . .

What sort of wheels are those on it? Says its factory 18" upgrade, but I've never seen a FWD factory wheel that looks like that.

ben.gators

12-14-10, 06:33 PM

Huh, I can remember during 2008 and early 2009, when gas prices were over 4$ and some people were predicting it will touch 5$ very soon, there were advertisements in Craigslist for such stupid home-made projects to reduce fuel costs....

Stingroo

12-14-10, 07:03 PM

I never saw $4 gas, fortunately. Right now it's $2.90 in Jacksonville and $3.01 down here at home. I hate this crap. lol

ben.gators

12-14-10, 07:46 PM

I never saw $4 gas, fortunately. Right now it's $2.90 in Jacksonville and $3.01 down here at home. I hate this crap. lol

This morning I went to a Shell gas station for fueling, 3.1$/gallon premium gas!!! I dislike it too....

Stingroo

12-14-10, 08:56 PM

Yeah uh... I don't use premium. My regular 87 octane is $3.01

:(

Playdrv4me

12-14-10, 09:17 PM

All jokes about his hydrogen gimmick aside . . .

What sort of wheels are those on it? Says its factory 18" upgrade, but I've never seen a FWD factory wheel that looks like that.

You are correct. Those wheels were available on the RWD STS at some point. Technically they are "factory" but NOT to THAT car. They didn't even exist in 2000.

btw... Am I the only one that noticed the steam cloud billowing out in the motor pic? Looks like :bomb:

ben.gators

12-14-10, 09:19 PM

I have a 99 N*, so I should use premium.... I know people that are using 87 octane and they are fine, but prefer to spend a bit more and use premium... The difference between 87 octane and premium in one one full tank of gas is just about 3$.... Not a big deal!

93DevilleUSMC

12-15-10, 12:49 AM

Moar greens adds teh horsepowers.

Playdrv4me

12-15-10, 12:50 AM

I have a 99 N*, so I should use premium.... I know people that are using 87 octane and they are fine, but prefer to spend a bit more and use premium... The difference between 87 octane and premium in one one full tank of gas is just about 3$.... Not a big deal!

Yea if you have a pre-2000 N* you really should avoid regular fuel at all costs. Not to mention that running that motor with regular fuel will degrade its efficiency anyway so that money you THOUGHT you were saving, goes right out the exhaust as fewer MPG.

Even the 2000+ cars are a little iffy if you ask me. The manual says something to the effect of "You can use 87 octane in this motor if you want, but optimal results are obtained with 93" or some such drivel. It still made it sound to me like they were just smoothing over the Premium requirement.

stsuk

12-15-10, 03:31 PM

We only have 2 choices of fuel,
95 regular and 97 plus...both cost a bomb.

ben.gators

12-15-10, 03:52 PM

We only have 2 choices of fuel,
95 regular and 97 plus...both cost a bomb.

What type of octane rating is this? If it is in RON, your regular is our premium (91 octane in AKI)!!! and your 97 is better than our premium! I did not know that the quality of gas in Euro is much better than the quality of Gas here in USA!

stsuk

12-15-10, 05:25 PM

What type of octane rating is this? If it is in RON, your regular is our premium (91 octane in AKI)!!! and your 97 is better than our premium! I did not know that the quality of gas in Euro is much better than the quality of Gas here in USA!

Yes thats the octane rating in my local garage,spotted a pump the other day with 98 octane but i'd just filled up down the road,gonna fill up with that when needed..:bouncy:

Playdrv4me

12-15-10, 10:58 PM

That Pump photo looks so utterly Euro-British lol.

stsuk

12-16-10, 12:04 AM

That Pump photo looks so utterly Euro-British lol.

Indeed it does..
Quick question..whilst staying at my dads place in St Pete FL' i noticed the gas had a distinct smell...whats in it..?

ga_etc

12-16-10, 12:17 AM

You mean gasoline, doesn't smell like gasoline in England?

stsuk

12-16-10, 12:25 AM

You mean gasoline, doesn't smell like gasoline in England?

Nope,your gasoline has a totally different smell,more chemically if that makes sense..reminded me of AVTAG..!!
Do any fuel companies mix ethanol into their gas...?

orconn

12-16-10, 12:49 AM

I don't know about Florida, but up here in Virginia the various grades all contain 10% ethanol. Most of the brands contain additional additives to help keep deposits, etc. from accumulating in the engine. Over the years the gasoline sold here has changed its' smell dramatically. The gas sold back in the ethyl days had a different smell completely than the gas one gets today.

ejguillot

12-16-10, 12:52 AM

Down here in the USA? Most gas sold these days is E10 (10% ethanol). Only 1 station in Tampa that still sells 100% gas.

ga_etc

12-16-10, 01:45 AM

There are only two stations around here that I know of that sells non-ethanol gas and they are Chevron stations.

Aron9000

12-16-10, 03:15 AM

Down here in the USA? Most gas sold these days is E10 (10% ethanol). Only 1 station in Tampa that still sells 100% gas.

Yeah ethonal/E10 is bad news in stuff like boats, ATVs, jet ski's, classic cars, etc. Basically anything that is sitting for a long time, the ethonal attracts moisture from the air, and you have bad gas.

Rodya234

12-16-10, 03:23 AM

What type of octane rating is this? If it is in RON, your regular is our premium (91 octane in AKI)!!! and your 97 is better than our premium! I did not know that the quality of gas in Euro is much better than the quality of Gas here in USA!

Yes, UK gas is higher quality than ours, however its much more expensive. The average petrol price in the UK was $7.30 per gallon as of Dec 10.

Submariner409

12-16-10, 11:14 AM

Do some Google work with "ethanol", "e10", "ethanol gasoline" and the like. You'll eventually find the EPA maps of what cities, counties, states are required to oxygenate (ethanol blend) their fuel and what localities "opted in" to the EPA requirements in order to get a government $$ kickback - you pay the same fuel tax as everyone else but your county/state get a doubledip of your tax money.

Many localities use E10 because, if they're close to an EPA-required emissions area, it's cheaper for the oil companies (retailers) to "go with the flow".

I don't remember what gasoline blended with tetraethyl lead (before "unleaded", to save valve seats from erosion) actually smelled like, but it was considerably different from today's stuff, and E10 smells different from its predecessor, MTBE. (Anyone remember when AMOCO 98 or 102 octane was called "white gas"?)

Times may have changed, but European gasolines in 1968 - 1971 (my Navy tour in Naples, Italy) were far, far inferior to American stuff in performance, with massive loads of sulphur content, dirt, water, contaminants. A twice-yearly ritual for a European engine was "decarbonising" - top overhaul.

Ranger

12-16-10, 11:46 AM

I remember the term "White Gas". Don't recall what it was though.

orconn

12-16-10, 01:50 PM

I do remember the term "white gas" and remember it meant gas without ethyl lead but don't remember which company sold it. Do you guys remember Sunoco having a dial on their pumps so you could dial up the octane gas that you wanted? Don't remember Sunoco marketing area, I know it was available in the Mid Atlantic.

dkozloski

12-16-10, 02:00 PM

Amoco sold a lead free premium fuel for years that contained no dyes and came out of the pump clear or "white". Chevron "Supreme" was blue.

orconn

12-16-10, 02:12 PM

^^^ I thought it was the tetraethyl lead that gave leaded gas its' pinkish hue, not oloring?

Ranger

12-16-10, 03:21 PM

I do remember the term "white gas" and remember it meant gas without ethyl lead but don't remember which company sold it. Do you guys remember Sunoco having a dial on their pumps so you could dial up the octane gas that you wanted? Don't remember Sunoco marketing area, I know it was available in the Mid Atlantic.
Yes, I remember those Sonoco pumps. Used to be able to buy it in Chicago when I had my '69 Road Runner right after I got home from Viet Nam. I often wondered if it did anything more than change the speed at which the price went up as you pumped the "Sonoco 260".

Ranger

12-16-10, 03:23 PM

I seem to recall my dad using "white gas" in Coleman camping stoves.

orconn

12-16-10, 03:39 PM

My roommate's, in prep school, father was the plant manager for the big Sunoco refinery in Philadelphia and I remember that his dad had a 1957 Dodge Lancer 4 door hardtop (probably a company car) that had a full sized (like on a fire engine) mounted on the front fender, which Larry said was for getting to the refinery in a hurry in case the refinery caught on fire! To this day I think that plain old Dodge was the only non-official car I ever saw with one of those huge old sirens mounted on it!

Ranger, I had my suspicions about what that dial really did, although some people apparently liked the idea as they Sunoco had a pretty good following! My own family always used Shell, and I still do today.

Playdrv4me

12-16-10, 05:43 PM

Times may have changed, but European gasolines in 1968 - 1971 (my Navy tour in Naples, Italy) were far, far inferior to American stuff in performance, with massive loads of sulphur content, dirt, water, contaminants. A twice-yearly ritual for a European engine was "decarbonising" - top overhaul.

I think that trend definitely reversed at some point because the Nikasil cylinder lining debacle of the mid 1990s occurred precisely as a result of the higher sulfur content in U.S. fuels at the time. Conversely, cars sold in Europe rarely if ever exhibited any problems.